Spirited Country Life

We make no attempt to conceal our spirited country life at Rosslyn. This exuberant existence — working, playing, rehabilitating, exercising, creating, gardening, and celebrating the abundance of Essex, Lake Champlain, and the Adirondack Coast — is a daily affirmation of life. Robust, often intentional, and sometimes serendipitous living.

But what about the less vibrant, ghostlier vestiges of Essex’s past? Of Rosslyn’s past?

Spirited Country Life: Haunted Icehouse? (Source: Geo Davis)

Time is a slippery construct.
(Source: The Nature of Time)

With history blurring and commingling with the present, do we ever witness another sort of spirited country life? Is Rosslyn haunted? Do we ever see or hear ghosts?!

Photographic evidence notwithstanding, Susan and I have never experienced a Rosslyn haunting. Yet. Perhaps soon. (The photos above are whimsical confections that I’ve made by merging snapshots inside and outside of the icehouse with ghostly images from Unsplash.)

But the question of ghosts surfaces now and then.

I remember early on, shortly after purchasing our home, taking friends for a tour with their young son. Their visit made an impression on me for several reasons, and it has surfaced in previous posts for that reason. During the house tour, Dak (maybe seven or eight years old at the time), raced around exploring then boomeranging back to report on his findings and to ask questions. One of the intrigues that the young boy conveyed to us pertained to the possibility of ghosts, phantoms of Rosslyn’s forbears. Certainly, he half-asked-half-willed, there must be ghosts in this old house, right? There must be! His optimism was palpable.

The question of ghosts inhabiting Rosslyn arose periodically during the lengthy renovation. Contractors mostly, and their questions leaned closer to wary than enthusiastic. I don’t recall any ghostly reports, but I do recollect some surprise that hauntings were not happening.
(Source: More to Say)

To date, our country life is spirited — splendidly, sportingly, serendipitously spirited — but not haunted. No phantoms. No mysterious, ghostly phenomena. But we’re welcoming by nature, so you never know what might happen this evening…

Haunted Icehouse

I’ve already admitted that I manufactured the two photographs above, but the *spirit* (Yuk-yuk!) of the visual mashups comes from an idea that’s occurred to me on more than one occasion over the last year.

While planning, rehabilitating, furnishing, and finally settling into my icehouse workspace, I’ve occasionally wondered what our Rosslyn forebears would think about this rehab. Would they applaud the adaptive reuse of an obsolete utility building? Would they lament the “end of an era” (albeit a century or so after the icehouse had ended its service)? Would they want to poke around and explore, maybe soak in the hot tub?

So, consider my curiosity the inspiration for the photos above. I’m imagining a couple of Rosslyn’s long ago inhabitants drifting by to visit Rosslyn’s newest historic rehabilitation!